Plant watering apparatus



H. 4Y. JENNINGS PLANT WATERING APPARATUS April 4, 1944.

Filed Dec. 18, 1957 INVENTOR. nnmg rammed Apr. 4, 1944 y y 2,346,029

PLANT wArEnIN APPARATUS Harley Y.Jennings, Flint, Mich.,v 'assignor to y' Copeman Laboratories Company," Flint, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application December 1s, 1937, serial-No; 180,545 y v ZClaims. (Cl. 47-38) ,v i, l The present invention relates to a device for on, the amOuntoIsuraCe 'of the substancetexe' supplying water to growing plants. A posedlrto the water. Glass wool,` ,being'forrned of An objectV of the invention is to provide an .a mass ofvvery individual'bers'of ,materialhaveV effective means for conducting'. aiconsjtantf-` and ing the composition of ordinary7 glass'offe'rs a; measured quantity of. water from a. suitable 5 very large surfaearea perunit` o f weight and source to the plant root area, in an amount-s ui- 1 consequently a relatively large waterconducting cient to adequately water the plant without procapacity fora relatively smallfc'ross-sectiona'lvareaA1` viding an excess of moisture. A of the substance.

A further object is to provide; a` means for According to myinvention, theiglasswoolmay, supplying water tothe plant root. area in such'` be used in the form of batti ug,.ltlfireafdayarns@. a manner that theroots grow downward rather ropes, v*or woven-'into a fabric. 'I'helwool inthe. than upward, as is their tendency when thev form of batting may be enclpsedfi'n'a'wirevkmesh, plants are watered from theupper surface ofl .or packed'underpredetermined compressiondnto y the soil inthe usual manner. 4 i metallic or brous tubes havin Another object is to provide a meansby which y v u soluble plant food rof Vselected types and conselected numberof strandsof centrations can be introduced 'into the plantroot therewith, vas, by twisting or, area from an externaly source, thus utilizing the strength'ja's well ats-flexibility. I J ,Y water and food for the plants to the best l'fad- An important 4feature of the-invention isthat. .v

vantage, Y vn the rate andvolume of flowofwater from the .f

It has been proposed heretofore -to supply f source tothe plant root area may be controlled Waterto growing plants by various wick arrangef by vvarying the compactness or v,density of the ments and constructions usingjorga'nic substances" .r glass Wool in a vgiven *columnl of space, ,or [in such as cotton, linen and wool. Such substances other-words, by-regulating the amountof exv have been used successfully to conduct* organieposed glass surface in a given cross-sectional liquids, such as kerosene and gasoline, but whenarea. y *Y f Y they are used to conduct water they have two There are many types of irrigating andwater.- major defects.v One of these is that organic subing systems which supply water toI plants Aby stances have no` particular affinity, for water,V means of wicks but these have no definite man; that is, water does not wet thernreadily. The're-A .30 nerlof ,.controlling theamount of moisture supfore, such conductive capacity'as they'may have pliednor of Aeliminating excess water so that the for water is due almost entirely to a limited plant root soil becomes Waterlosged. Itis a purdegree of capillarity. Another major defectv of pose of the present invention, not only to control such substance is that in the presence of water to a considerable extent the amount of water they are readily susceptible to rot and decay and added, to the Soil by establishing a definite 112121- require frequent replacement.A .4 Y tion between the cross-sectional area of the wick I have found that they inorganic' silicate mateused and the amount of soil to bev moistened,v rial vformed from very fine laments of spun glass, but to go further and use auxiliary wicks, in some and known commercially as i glass-wool, when- 40 cases, which extend from the surface of the soil used as conductor of water, possesses 'features down to the root area to absorb .and evaporate which overcome the disadvantages of the organic moisturerandv assist in aerating the soil. With wick materials previously referred to. In the this wick arrangement, which I havefound to be rst place the substance,"being inorganic, oan-` an important feature of the invention', the connot rot or decay. Further, itis insoluble in water, '45 tinuous imovement of moisture from the irrigat and does not oxidize,A under the influence of water ing wicks through the soil to the vent wicks or exposure to the elements. avoids any possibility of a stale or sour soil con- More important, however, is the fact that glassl` dition. The auxiliary wick maybe a continua- WOOL as the preferred SubstanceY will bev heretion of the feed wick, or'may be a separate wick. after referred to whether in ,the form of batting,V as hereinafter described. The invention is equally filaments, threads, yarns, cords, ropesor fabrics, Well adapted C0 US@y in a gdlPOl il plant COU-Y is decidedly hydrophilic; that eis, it hasva definite i tainerssuch as flower pots or boxes, or, dats. and marked preferential attraction for w'aterA i Thefollouiiig drawing illustrates various modi- With a substanceA of this nature', the amount cations the invention in which the :ee-neiges of water it will attract and conduct is dependent and means of the invention are embodied:

water. The perforations or spaced holes 33st are provided in the margins of the strip 33 to allow an excess supply of water, as from a heavy rain,

.to pass through to the sub-soil. These perforations are preferably small .enough to permit drainage but not to allow direct soil contact since this would tend to carry the moisture from the wicks downward and thus defeat the primary purpose of the strip. A modification of the arrangement shown in Figs. 8l and 9 is shown in Fig. 10 where the wicking 34 is covered with a tube 35 which has openings in the top portion spaced to correspond to the spacing of the plants in the rowwhich is to be watered. This type of construction is particularly desirable for largeplants or shrubs which are placed some distance apart. It is necessary then to supply moisture only directly underneath the plant.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for furnishing moisture and food to a growing plant comprising a soil con- I the soil level.

2. An apparatus for furnishing water to growing plants, comprising a water source, a series of spun glass b-odies extending from the water source through the root soil ofthe plants, and a second series of spun glass bodies extending `from the atmosphere to the root soil of the plants whereby moisture is conveyed to the root soil from said rst series of spun glass bodies and conveyed away from the root soil by said second series of spun glass bodies.

HARLEY Y. JENNINGS. 

